This Day in MMA History: Oct. 11

By: Jordan BreenOct 11, 2008

Pride was the most apropos word that could have been affixed to the
MMA-altering event that took place 11 years ago today.

Nobuhiko
Takada was not so much a prizefighter as a protector of Japan's
pro-wrestling tradition, called forth to quiet the intensifying
challenge of Gracie jiu-jitsu. Japan's pro-wrestlers were long
revered as genuine tough guys, rooted in legitimate martial arts
and steeped in a rougher, "realer" grappling mentality.

Challenge matches were certainly nothing new to the realm of
puroresu, as Antonio Inoki had brought style-versus-style showdowns
back in vogue in the 1970s with his landmark bouts with Muhammad
Ali and Olympic judo gold medalist Willem Ruska among others.
However, as word of Royce Gracie's
early UFC domination spread internationally, the newly mystical
Gracie jiu-jitsu seemed on a collision course with Japanese
pro-wrestling.

Royce had teased that his older brother Rickson was really the
alpha dog of the family, sparking demand for the Paul Bunyan-esque
figure of Brazilian vale tudo. Rickson
Gracie was introduced to the rest of the world in July 1994,
when he ran roughshod over a woefully overmatched tournament field
in the Vale Tudo Japan Open 1994. Eager to quickly nip Gracie
jiu-jitsu in the bud, Takada, the superstar of shoot-style
pro-wrestling organization UWF International, challenged Rickson,
only for Gracie to snipe that he didn't fight "fake wrestlers."

"There's no need for Takada-san to go. If it's just Rickson, I'm
200-percent confident I can beat him," Anjo told the Japanese media
before he left.

The doors of the academy were locked for the match. When they
opened again less than 10 minutes later, Anjo was a battered and
bloodied mess after a near-endless stream of mounted punches from
Gracie. Word of the beatdown quickly spread, lifting Gracie to
mythical status in Japan. Five months later he crossed the Pacific
again and destroyed three Japanese fighters en route to winning the
Vale Tudo Japan Open 1995. It was now up to Takada to defend
Japanese pro-wrestling from absolute domination at the hands of
Gracie jiu-jitsu.

Pride was born on Oct. 11, 1997, drawing 37,000 fans to the Tokyo
Dome. After an undercard featuring the dubious (Koji Kitao-Nathan
Jones), the lawless (Ralph White-Branko Cikatic) and the
unforgettably painful (Kimo
Leopoldo-Dan Severn,)
Takada and Gracie took the ring for their highly anticipated
landmark matchup.

It lasted less than five minutes. After Gracie finally tracked down
the circling Takada, it was elementary: double-leg slam, full
mount, armbar.

Gracie's star swelled in Japan. In the subsequent months, he was in
demand for additional high-profile showdowns with other shoot-style
stars in Japan. Rings' Akira Maeda was
the opponent that fans wanted to take on Gracie. A Maeda-Gracie
bout was the expected mega-fight until August 1998, when upstart
company Dream Stage Entertainment took control of Pride from
founding parent company KRS and promptly announced a rematch
between Takada and Gracie for Oct. 11, 1998 -- the one-year
anniversary of their first meeting.

Roughly 37,000 fans filled the Tokyo Dome again, and while a better
undercard featuring Kazushi
Sakuraba-Allan Goes and
Igor
Vovchanchyn-Gary
Goodridge was a tad more inspirational than the Pride 1 bill,
the main event was a foregone conclusion. Takada made it nearly 10
minutes, courtesy of an extended amount of body clinching, but was
swept, mounted and armbarred again.

Now a decade passed, the clashes between Gracie and Takada, while
hardly competitive, crystallized MMA's future in Japan by crushing
the mythos of shoot-style pro-wrestling and providing the spectacle
and intrigue to propel Pride into a cornerstone of MMA's brief
history.